Wednesday, August 23, 2006

35 and counting

In August 2002 I made my first beer. I had then been interested in beer for a long time, and had been curious about homebrewing for a few months. At the time I didn't actually know anyone who brewed their own beer, so I had to read a book and lots of articles on the subject before taking the plunge. The brewing process was frightening as there were a lot of unfamiliar things to worry about. As I had nobody to ask for help I was really nervous. But the brewing session went just fine and I didn't run into any surprises at all. It was actually quite straightforward. Having a brew day under your belt helps a lot. Today I can brew a beer blindfolded (well, perhaps not, but you get the point).

The beer was an Extra Special Bitter made from liquid malt extract, some grains for steeping, hop pellets and dry yeast. Since then I have brewed a total of 35 different brews. Each batch is 25 liters, which typically gives 23 liters of finished beer. Even though I try hard I cannot actually get through all of it myself, so I try to give beers to friends and family and all those who seem to have an interest in beer and homebrewing. This is of course a nice thing as it is great to get feedback (positive and negative).

To give you an indication of what kind of beers I brew, here's a list that includes the beer style and the alcohol level:

#1 Extra Special Bitter, 4.7%

#2 Weissbier, 5.1%

#3 Honey Pale Ale, 5.0%

#4 Robust Porter, 5.8%

#5 Dubbel, 7.3%

#6 India Pale Ale, 6.0%

#7 American Pale Ale, 5.1%

#8 Ale (The Norbrygg Experiment 2003), 4.7%

#9 Weissbier, 5.5%

#10 English Brown Ale, 4.6%

#11 Imperial Stout, 8.5%

#12 Bitter, 4.5%

#13 Dry Irish Stout, 4.2%

#14 Belgian Golden Ale, 8.5%

#15 American Brown Ale, 6.4%

#16 Witbier, 5.2%

#17 Extra Special Bitter, 5.9%

#18 Imperial IPA, 9.2%

#19 Bitter, 4.8%

#20 Weissbier, 5.5%

#21 Witbier, 5.1%

#22 American Pale Ale, 5.9%

#23 India Pale Ale, 5.9%

#24 Chocolate Porter, 6.6%

#25 Cider, 4.8%

#26 Extra Special Bitter, 5.0%

#27 Spiced Christmas Ale, 6.3%

#28 Witbier, 4.7%

#29 Witbock, 7.7%

#30 Extra Special Bitter, 6.0%

#31 Oatmeal Stout, 5.5%

#32 Kölsch, 4.2%

#33 Dubbel, 6.5%

#34 India Pale Ale, 5.6%

#35 Rye IPA, 7.5%

Beers #24, #25 (a cider), #27, #31, #32, #33, #34 and #35 are being served on draught. A few more are in bottles.

As you can see from the list above, Extra Special Bitter, Witbier and India Pale Ale seem to have been the most popular styles so far. All beers have been brewed to different recipes, even the beers in the same style.